Trails
Trails Follow Water
Water was an important necessity to migrating animals and travelers on land so it is not surprising that the Native American trails followed the bison on the plains. Both hugged Nebraska's greatest of rivers, the Platte River. The early settlers used these same trails and paths as the roads to the great west.
Our modern roads follow in the footsteps of our ancestors and stray very little as the early roads were improved. New projects such as the Interstate Highway system also tend to follow the same general paths in order to supplement the commerce of the already established cities. As Interstate 80 makes its way across Nebraska, it too hugs the Platte River for much of the way.
Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail
The Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail is along the route that the Corp of Discovery Expedition traveled on their way to the west coast. It travels along the Missouri River, and on beyond the nebraska State borders on to the west coast. It marks important placea long the way.
The National Park Service has the best map I have seen developed to show the Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail Trail, and including a lot of the historic locations along the way: